My first month on the Pill was a living hell. I felt constantly nauseous, ended up throwing up a lot more than I wanted to, and felt miserable. My doctor assured me that it was normal and would go away after a month. After that month, those horrible feelings did go away. Which was great! Until I realized that my sex drive had gone with it – the hormones in the Pill completely destroyed my sex drive.

When my first year was up, I talked to my doctor, and she said that the large amount of estrogen was probably causing my lack of desire. So I agreed to switch to a new Pill. The next year – the same lack of desire. Another repeat performance after switching to a new one for my third year.

Finally, this year, when I was coming up for my annual, I'd gotten tired of the Pill. For one, my odd sleep schedule (due to a 3rd shift job) was making me miss pills – and making me so paranoid about having sex that I didn't want to have sex for at least two weeks after the missed pill. It eventually led to so many missed pills that we were never having sex. Coupled with the fact that I really didn't feel like having sex, I figured it was time to be a grown-up girl and find a new method of birth control – one that worked for me.

I'm a plus-size girl, and size was a concern for me. Some hormonal methods just don't work as well with fat women – and I didn't want anything that would be ineffective. I wanted something I didn't want to have to think about or deal with if it could be helped. That criteria took the shot, the Norplant, and other in-the-moment methods like condoms or sponges out of the picture. The boyfriend veto'd the Nuva Ring after saying he was afraid it'd come off on him during sex. One method, however, seemed like it would be a good fit for me – the IUD. It comes in hormonal or non-hormonal versions (respectively the Mirena and Paragard). Due to my bad experience with hormonal methods, I chose to go with the Paragard.

As a short summary, the Paragard is the only long-term non-hormonal birth control method. It's a small, metal T that is inserted into the cervix. It's made of copper, and therefore, not a good choice for those who are allergic to copper. The copper in Paragard does something with the uterus to make it unsuitable for a fetus to attach. The Paragard lasts for up to 12 years (with a recommended time of 10 years) and can be taken out at any time to get pregnant. The biggest risks with the Paragard are an allergy to copper as well as it coming out. (It tends to stay in better with women who've given birth.)

After talking with the Planned Parenthood doctor, I made the final decision to go with Paragard. I made sure it was covered by my insurance (it's covered by most) and went in for my annual. She performed my regular exam like usual, and when it came to the insertion of the Paragard, she told me it would be a five minute procedure. (In total, I was in and out for my appointment in a half-hour.) The process for a Paragard includes a regular annual exam, sliding a measuring instrument to check that the cervix is large enough for the birth control, the actual sliding in of the Paragard, then cutting the string to a shorter length.

The most painful part was the measuring instrument. I've never had a single cramp during my periods (Yes, I know I'm lucky), and I was told the measuring instrument was just going to feel like a horrible cramp. I had no idea what “horrible cramp” meant. My god, I ended up making enough noise to make a nearby nurse come check to make sure I was okay. After that, you feel quite a bit of pressure while the doctor inserts the Paragard. Walking out of the office wasn't that bad, but I got really dizzy afterwards. They won't let you drive yourself home because of the dizziness. I was told I'd be able to return to work that night, but after six hours of pain, I called in sick to work.

I imagine women who are used to cramps/childbirth will have a better experience than I did. I'd never felt a cramp, and these felt like horrible assaults on my uterus. I went from napping to crying while the boyfriend took some pity on me. (A hint for anyone with bad cramps: Take a daily supplement, a daily B6 vitamin, and a couple Ibuprofen in the beginning of the day. Takes a whole lot of the edge off. Avoid too much salt, like fast food, in your diet. Drink plenty of water.) The next day, I felt a lot better, and it was easy to ignore the cramps except at certain times when it'd get bad – I was functioning like a normal (albeit complaining) human being. By the third day, I was pretty much back to normal and went to work that night.

Many women with the Paragard complain of a month's worth of pain as well as a month's worth of bleeding. Just to keep from getting scared, I will let you know that I didn't have any of that. My period was slightly heavier, but it was nothing that really even bothered me. Three weeks into getting my Paragard, I have to say that I don't regret it in the slightest. I can't even tell it's there, the boyfriend can't feel it during sex, and I have absolutely no cramps when I'm not on my period.

Considering how difficult I found it to find good experience of a woman with the Paragard, I figured EdenCafe might benefit from this post. (I mean really – everyone comes online to complain, but nobody says “I'm doing great!”) If you are looking for a non-hormonal birth control method that requires absolutely no care or thought, I'd highly recommend that you add Paragard to your list to check out. It's an easy procedure, is covered by most insurance, and a week's worth of pain is easily worth 10 years of worry-free birth control.